@tsi I love Mythic Legions but I think it's the one line I collect where I think the whales are involved enough and supportive enough that it's worth it to the company to give them stuff to throw gobs of cash at. (I definitely buy more than I should from them but I have hard limits.)
By comparison, I spent the past year fretting about what the heck to do with the Dragonfly copter I bought and was palpably relieved tonight when I opened it and, out of the box, it was shelf-sized. My house is just under 1,100 square feet. I have a studio space in the basement where I can store stuff but I legit have existential crises on the regular over the cool toys and art I have down there I just don't have the space to display somewhere I can appreciate it. But, like, a few boxes of Legions or overflow of Hasbro or Mattel stuff bums me out. A dragon like this I'd feel heartbroken I couldn't find a home for it where I could see it. (My Legions trolls are on a shelf in the studio looking at me judgmentally, to be fair.)
Are projects like this just serving the whales?
Yes.
Mythic Legions, at least in the deepest parts of it’s fandom, is powered almost exclusively by FOMO.
Back when the line was Kickstarter only if you didn’t pick one up you were shit out of luck. See a cool part swap you want to try? Figure have a cool accessory or alt look you didn’t notice during the campaign or maybe just final paint looked cooler than the prototype?! You better be willing to pony up three to four times the original price to get it!
Yeah, FOMO among causal fans has cooled considerably (you can pick up pretty much any recent standard figure at BigBad for a 20% mark up, maybe less if they do another sale, and some Horsemen store exclusives are sitting in stock right now! Absolutely futt bucking wild to go from ‘these figures sell for $120 on the after market’ to ‘there are Demistros at Horsemen no-mark-up prices unclaimed waiting for you to buy!’) but how can you show your face at the Kabal if you don’t own the dragon?!
They’ll laugh you out of the room when you show up at Intern-for-a-Day next year and when everyone is saying “My wife is gonna kill me! Hurhur! I don’t have room for a dragon! HurHur! Guess I better sell my kids and a kidney to make room and raise the funds! Hyuck!” you say “I didn’t buy one, I’m waiting for a smaller version that better fits my personal collection!”
It’s 100% an item for whales
Mythic Legions has always been about whales.
They aren’t planning for every Legion collector to make a little space for a $400 dragon, they wouldn’t have scaled it up 20% if they wanted to make a dragon for everyone to enjoy… they’re hoping the 100 or so die hards shell out $1200+ for the ultimate bragging rights and proof they’re the biggest fan who should get a figure with their misspelled name made too!
I kind of hope the dragon IS $1200, cuz that'd make it an easy pass. Anything up to $500 is gonna have me taking it way too seriously...
At the end of the day, I see the dragon as a really cool piece of art that their fans have been begging for forever, but that also has appeal to fantasy collectors, DnD people, HACKs people... folks that might not want a million 1/12 figures, but would center a big dragon in their game room. One thing to keep in mind, is that there are a lot of Mythic Legions collectors who ONLY collect Mythic Legions, so this is their first Haslab. There are Star Wars collectors who have Jabba's Barge, the Razor Crest, and The Ghost, and would keep going. For ML's, this is the biggest piece in their collection by far, and likely the centerpiece. I don't think there is anything unreasonable about this, but the price will tell.
I could be wrong, I zoned out a bit during their live stream, but I think their plans as of now are to do 4 more large dragons, which are mentioned in their companion fiction. They also plan on doing smaller dragon mount dragons. I will only ever be able to justify one large dragon. While I love this green, I am a little worried that a blue, red, black, or whatever dragon in the future might catch my attention more.
As far as a place to display it, well, I don't have many big pieces in my collection - just my VC Slave-1 and the NECA Turtle Van, the rest are 1/12 scale figures. I have a cool wide bookshelf at the back of my office and this guy might sit on top if I have him breath fire. Or, depending on how vertical he can be, he might be in the shelf, standing up. Or I'll put in one of my Billy's with glass doors, if he's not too wide. I can remove shelfs from that and create a real great vertical display.
That's if I buy him, which is a big if, because of $$$, and I'd like to see how articulated he is. Probably over $450-500 and I'm out.
I will say, never buy into 4H FOMO or FOMO in general. Every time, every single damn time, I've paid more than retail for a figure, it has later been available at some outlet for retail or less. MAFEX, NECA, 4H, it doesn't matter. Only thing I regret passing on, maybe, was the high end Inspector Gadget that came out a couple years ago. Doubt he'll ever drop in price. But I can live without him.
I don't think the Mythic Community is powered more by FOMO than any other. But one thing I do like about the Mythic Community is that they do have an actual community, and I think that sense of being part of communal excitement and celebration does drive sales. The Cabal has enough casual resellers that don't scalp and hook people up (I've been hooked up before at below retail), and now 4H has created a specialty line just to put out better versions of the hard to get figures.
One thing I do have to admit to myself about these beast figures is that I'm not totally in love with the proportions. From some angles, every one of the beast heads looks too large for the body it's on, and the snake ones especially look a little odd the way they sit on the necks. This is a consequence of the way this line shares parts, I suppose, so for display purposes they'll probably sit more near Legends as like New Men for the High Evolutionary than say, NECA's TMNT stuff or the Fury Toys pieces I have on pre-order. Since high fantasy in general is not a theme I collect.
@cmoney Y'know, I feel bad saying it but I kinda feel the same way. If it's one of those HOLY COW NOPE prices I won't feel bad about it at all. If it's like $300 I could math it out a bit and talk myself in and out of it because I'm such a fantasy nerd. (I DM 2-3 D&D games a week, I'm THAT nerd.) If it's a grand? PHEW. Decision made!
I've definitely cooled on the FOMO (since I got into the line late and have come to admit I'll never have that Man at Arms homage orc, for example). These days I get suckered into Mythic Legions if I think the figure is really pretty and speaks to my fantasy setting aesthetics.
o the line late and have come to admit I'll never have that Man at Arms homage orc, for example). These days I get suckered into Mythic Legions if I think the figure is really pretty and speaks to my fantasy setting aesthetics.
I briefly toyed(!) with the idea of at least collecting the MOTU homage figures they've done, but I quickly learned that there were already more than I'd thought and that a few of them are not all that available, so I too abandoned the notion. Despite what I said earlier, I realized I have actually ordered two of these figures in the past, they're just not out yet: the two mounts/pack animals from the most recent Cosmic Legions waves. So, like you, I'm very much a case-by-case consumer of FH's output. I almost bought the bear, but the shipping turned me off as well as some of the sculpt aesthetics, so...
Great interview with one of the 4H founders about the design of the dragon. Still not a fan of the wings, but the tail design is unique. He says it will have a bendy wire running through the whole thing, but it also has articulated segments to make poses easier and help secure it in place.
He also says they're planning to structure the sale pretty much like a Haslab project with a minimum backer requirement and tier unlocks.
Great interview with one of the 4H founders about the design of the dragon. Still not a fan of the wings, but the tail design is unique. He says it will have a bendy wire running through the whole thing, but it also has articulated segments to make poses easier and help secure it in place.
He also says they're planning to structure the sale pretty much like a Haslab project with a minimum backer requirement and tier unlocks.
It is a remarkable achievement of these true artists and all-around good people at 4H studios. I would feel better about backing it I knew it was a one and done deal. That they referenced 4 other dragons, at least some of which are likely to be of comparable scale, maybe on the same body with different heads, scales, etc., it gives me pause. I really shouldn't buy one of these and absolutely cannot buy more than one. So what happens if I buy this dragon and one much more to my liking comes along later? I know that "sell this one for cost or more and then buy the other" is the obvious solution with Mythic Legions as they tend to retain value, but 1) that's a big risk at this anticipated price point, 2) shipping will be daunting, and 3) it is extremely difficult for me to part with 4H product already in hand. You love them more with time. So ... decisions.
So, I'm really hoping there's an option to buy the legged snake warriors that isn't just con exclusive. Because I honestly would MUCH rather get a couple of those than the one with the tail they are currently offering as part of the wave. I'm going to buy one of the tailed figures for sure - but I'd buy a couple of the guys with legs if they were an option.
As for the Dragon... apart from the price - which I expect will be daunting, I'm trying to imagine the shipping cost associated with the thing. The 4Horsemen shipping costs have always been pretty high - and for something of this size I expect the shipping cost to be substantial - like an additional $50 minimum to the base price and probably more than that. As pretty as it is I just don't think it's going to be practical.
That thing is the size of a small dog. A medium dog, even.
So, I'm really hoping there's an option to buy the legged snake warriors that isn't just con exclusive. Because I honestly would MUCH rather get a couple of those than the one with the tail they are currently offering as part of the wave. I'm going to buy one of the tailed figures for sure - but I'd buy a couple of the guys with legs if they were an option.
I'm pretty sure they said the legged ones would be offered in 2025 as an in-stock thing, kind of like how the Figura Obscura stuff is done.
So, I'm really hoping there's an option to buy the legged snake warriors that isn't just con exclusive. Because I honestly would MUCH rather get a couple of those than the one with the tail they are currently offering as part of the wave. I'm going to buy one of the tailed figures for sure - but I'd buy a couple of the guys with legs if they were an option.
I'm pretty sure they said the legged ones would be offered in 2025 as an in-stock thing, kind of like how the Figura Obscura stuff is done.
Exactly. Just like last year and the surprise Valiant Knight figure they had at the con, the Ninian warrior figure will be a limited number in stock during a sale in early(ish) 2025.
Just set your alarms when they announce, they won't last long.
My hope is that the sale also includes the Valiant Knight and V2 Skeleton.
You all think BBTS will put up this Beast wave for pre-order? I do have some Mythic Legions but I'm not an all in kind of collector for this line and don't want to pay upfront for the ones I do want. I have quite a few pre-orders dropping soon this month.
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